2025 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch AWD Review & Test Drive

Ford has certainly made inroads in having a wide gamut of vehicles to pick from that appeal to a vast audience. In bringing back the formidable Bronco, Ford expanded on the idea and conceptualized something more affordable that also ‘Sports’ the Bronco nameplate, the Bronco Sport – a smallish iteration of the popular SUV that has bode well for the masses.

For the 2025 model year, the Bronco Sport gets a taste of what its bigger brother enjoyed for its off-roading prowess in the availability of the Sasquatch package available for the Badlands or Outer Banks trim levels. Having the Bronco Sport Badlands with the Sasquatch package is an interesting proposition for the small SUV to play up its nameplate in a larger essence, considering such an off-roading trim and package literally elevates the vehicle to play with the bigger dogs with more capability. That’s not to say the Bronco Sport is by any means as capable as its bigger Bronco sibling with the off-roading goodies, but it does mean we have a remarkably capable small SUV that’s ahead of its respective class.

Powering the Bronco Sport Badlands remains to be the same 2.0-liter turbocharged (EcoBoost) 4-cylinder engine good for 250 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. The drivetrain with its locking center (and rear) differential coupled with the Badlands trim and Sasquatch package you get improved off-road conquering specifications, such as a slightly lifted suspension (1-inch increase) setup with rear Bilstein dampers, steel front bumper with a bull bar and recovery hooks, underbody skid plates, 29-inch Goodyear Territory all-terrain tires, and added all-terrain (G.O.A.T. – Goes Over Any Terrain) drive modes that work with the twin-clutch rear differential.

With the added equipment and tires, the Bronco Sport is now positioned to be more versatile and making the nameplate proud to be worn on a smaller package. When you’re not on the off-roading trails or adventures, you’ll expect to hit 60 mph from a standstill in about 5.9 seconds, leading for its class.

Having the Bronco Sport in the Badlands trim with the Sasquatch package takes a little from the ride quality out on the road, with a stiffer feeling, but not to the point of being jarring. However, the small sacrifices make the Bronco Sport one of the more off-road-capable vehicles for its class only to be slightly outdone by something like the Jeep Compass Trailhawk. Overall, the Bronco Sport remains a decent vehicle for its on-road stability and compliance, and it can now conquer a little tougher terrain with the added equipment.

Fuel economy, while not officially rated at this time, comes in around 23 mpg on average in combined city and highway driving, from my observation. The tow rating for the Bronco Sport Badlands is up to 2,700 pounds.

The interior of the Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch isn’t anything special, but it isn’t necessarily completely bland, either. There’s a nice, simplistic play on the dashboard layout with just a single-lined array of buttons for quick controls of essential functions, such as the ability to bring up the 360-degree camera system at any time or shut off the annoying start-stop function. Otherwise, the Bronco Sport Badlands brings us the larger 13.2-inch infotainment touchscreen using the Sync 4 interface. Of course, there’s wireless (or USB-connected) Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration and a smartphone wireless charger in front of the dial transmission shifter. The 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster is somewhat customizable, with more colors to match some of the many drive modes.

The seating areas up front are surprisingly comfy, yet they only provide heating. In the back, the seats are limited on legroom at the mercy of the front seat’s ample forward or aft power adjustment. Though headroom is decent, as is the cargo area, providing about 29.4 cubic feet of storage space with the rear seatbacks in place. There’s even a neat cargo organizer to prop items up on another level – but access to the cargo area is done through a non-powered tailgate. One neat party trick is that the rear liftgate glass can be opened for quick access to the cargo area or to allow space for extremely long items.

In the unique space of compact crossovers, the Bronco Sport does well to appease many and expands outside of the norm for having the more powerful 2.0-liter turbocharged engine over the rather anemic 1.5-liter turbo 3-cylinder found in most trim levels ($31,695 – $36,795). Even though you can only get the 2.0-turbo with the Badlands trim, it’s well worth the admission price, starting at $40,115, in my view. My nicely-equipped Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch package test vehicle comes to an as-tested price of $46,170.

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